Brian Kelly was not kidding Sunday when he said special teams were what scared him after a month away from football.

On Monday, his Notre Dame team muffed a punt that turned into an LSU scoring drive, and it nearly let the Tigers recover one of their own kickoffs. LSU almost made the same mistake on a fourth-quarter Irish kickoff, and also missed two field goals and fumbled a punt (that it recovered) for good measure.

Notre Dame beat LSU, 21-17, in a Citrus Bowl that featured two teams fighting for that coveted 10th win of the season. But amid sloppy conditions in Orlando, it was a special-teams decision by LSU coach Ed Orgeron that played a pivotal role in the outcome.

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Facing a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line in the fourth quarter of a 14-14 game, Orgeron elected to kick a field goal with 2:03 left, rather than go for the touchdown and, if that didn’t work, force Notre Dame to mount a drive...

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